Making Us Stronger

"That Which Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger" is a saying I've heard over and over throughout the years.  I've never liked the saying, because it implies that I'm supposed to embrace adversity, perhaps even welcome it.  Ugh!  Who wants to welcome struggles?

Well, with age comes wisdom, and I've changed my mind!  Does that mean I've learned to welcome struggles?  Hardly!  But I have come to understand that it's through the struggles that I grow, and that without those struggles that drive me to my knees, I'd be a very shallow and self-centered person.

When I was 30, I was thin and happily raising two very well-behaved little girls.  Boy, was I smug!  I had a friend who was extremely overweight and I'd think, "Why doesn't she just go on a diet?  How could anyone let themselves gain that much weight?"  And being the good friend that I was, I would occasionally offer her diet and exercise tips.  Wouldn't you have LOVED to have been my friend?  :-)  Of course, I was absolutely certain, beyond ANY shadow of a doubt, that I would never, COULD never allow myself to even approach THAT size.  Very smug indeed.

I would see young mothers struggling with a misbehaving young child and think that the mother needed a few parenting lessons, as she obviously didn't know how to control her child.  I would look at my two daughters and smile, feeling ever so smug.  I had a couple of friends with older children who would actually ask me if they could have my daughters over for the afternoon to bake cookies, etc.  Obviously my children were a reflection of my superior parenting skills.

Is it any surprise that my Heavenly Father saw that one of HIS children was in need of a bit of, um, refining? 

Part of this refining process came in a 9 lb. 10 oz. package called Joel, a surprise baby who arrived just before I was 35.  He absolutely terrorized his preschool class, threw major melt-down fits in public on a regular basis, and generally left me reeling.  An eventual diagnosis of ADHD, followed several years later by a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome finally explained a lot of the behaviors.  In the meantime, I learned what it was like to be on the receiving end of smug stares and what it was like to have ignorant strangers dismiss my son as a brat.  And I learned empathy, learned not to make snap judgments about others, and came to understand that there may be far more than meets the eye.

Following Joel's birth, I found that I could not lose the baby weight, and I was suddenly overweight for the first time in my life.  Then I re-entered the workforce, moving this active stay-home mom to a sedentary desk job, which piled on more weight.  In my early 40's some difficult family circumstances plunged me into a deep clinical depression and I ate non-stop in an effort to numb the pain.  Long after the issues were resolved (for which I thank the Lord!), the weight I gained seemed destined to stay forever.

I lived for over twenty years as an obese woman.  I experienced the "helpful" suggestions of thin friends; I dealt with the humiliation of struggling to fasten an airline seatbelt and praying I didn't have to request an extender.  I became the person I used to criticize and judge, and in doing so, I learned empathy.  I learned not to judge.  I learned compassion.

Do I wish I could have erased the difficult parts of my life?  A few years ago, I would have said, without any hesitation, "Absolutely!"  But today my response is different.  These are not the struggles I would have chosen, but I do embrace them because they forced me to grow in ways I would not have otherwise grown. 

My weight loss journey was a bit part of my own refining process, and I eventually learned to embrace the journey.  Learning new, healthy ways to deal with stress, learning to make healthy choices were certainly part of the process.  Another important part of this refining process was connecting with others who were on their own journey to health. Some struggled and some didn't, but I learned - and I continue to learn - from all.  Those who made the choice to stay on plan and never stray inspired me to persevere, but those who struggled, fell, and then had the courage to pick themselves up and continue also inspired and encouraged me by their tenacity and refusal to succumb to discouragement. 

Some days on this journey are a struggle for sure, but with the struggle comes the opportunity for growth, if we choose to embrace it.  The choice is yours . . . choose wisely :-)

Good Intentions

I am the queen of good intentions - really I am.  Over the years I've found that my follow-through often falls apart, but wow, my intentions are SO good and so sincere! 

I realized this all over again this weekend while cleaning out a drawer in my office (the last of the drawers and cabinets in my house to be cleaned out and organized!!).  It's a pretty deep drawer and it was piled almost to the top with papers that I'd throw in the drawer, usually to clean up my office just before a guest arrived, always promising that I'd get to the papers "later."  I don't know when your "later" shows up, but mine often takes its own sweet time :-).  This weekend was my "later," and oh my . . . it HAD been a while since I got to the bottom of the pile of papers!  I'm embarrassed to admit it, but at the bottom of the pile were several Christmas cards from last Christmas (yep, it was THAT long since "later"). 

Interestingly, one of the things buried in my paper pile was a book entitled (and I'm not kidding!), "100 Ways to Simplify Your Life."  I bought the book a while ago and haven't cracked the cover yet, but I obviously had good intentions at the time about getting more organized and simplifying things.

The problem is that good intentions or even the right tools (like my book) aren't enough.  Without follow through, good intentions pile up like the papers in my desk drawer.  Tools that remain used are useless, or worse, add to our guilt because they remind us of what we intended to do but never quite got around to doing.

Everyone who started on this program began with good intentions - the BEST intentions.  This was IT - it was time to lose weight and get healthy once and for all.  This program comes with a variety of tools for us to use, and with the tools available and the ease of the meal replacements, there really isn't any reason why everyone doesn't reach goal, right?  Or ???

The missing ingredient to success for many is the follow through.  We get off plan for one reason or another (the reasons don't matter), and we mean to get back on, really we do.  We have good intentions . . . but our follow through is lacking.  Sometimes we sabotage ourselves for a variety of reasons, and sometimes we're too quick to settle for less than what we really want because we're distracted by the lure of immediate gratification. 

We have the right program, we have the right tools, and we have good intentions.  The only thing we need to be successful is follow through.  That is the choice facing us today . . . choose wisely :-)

Doing the Hard Thing

I heard someone talking yesterday about some of the heroes in our country.  Whether it was one of our founding fathers, the brave pioneers who explored space or the brave men and women who serve our country, the speaker pointed out that all were and are ordinary people just like us.  The difference with heroes is that the difficulties never deter them - they define them.  Most of them certainly didn't set out to be a hero, but when faced with challenges they didn't flinch but chose instead to keep moving forward.

We can learn a lot from heroes.  So many of us (and I certainly include myself in the "us") somehow expect things to be easy, and when things aren't easy we're tempted to bolt.  As I think about some of the true heroes in our country, it's almost embarrassing me to even compare the challenges of staying on plan to the kind of challenges these individuals faced.  Staying the course when it's hard is only possible when we have our eyes on the greater good.  If we're only focused on the here and now and being comfortable in the moment, we'll never do it because it's always easier in the short-term to focus on immediate gratification.

But there is a greater good that comes from staying on plan:  getting healthy by getting to a healthy weight.  I can't begin to describe how much this changes your life, but those who've lost weight and reached their goal can testify to the difference it's made.  Staying on plan, even when it's hard, and eventually reaching your goal just might make you a hero to your family members and friends, as they are watching and some of them may end up getting healthy as a result.  In my own family, I not only lost 126 pounds, but my husband ended up losing 50 pounds, my son 60, my mom 40 (and she got off her insulin), my dad lost 30, my son-in-law lost 65, one of my best friends lost 70, and the list goes on and on from there . . . and as these individuals lost weight, other people in their circle of influence were inspired to lose weight and get healthy, too. 

The ripple effect is amazing, and it starts with you and the hard choices you make today.  Choose wisely :-)

Picky Eating

It's a gorgeous Saturday morning in Michigan (I can't believe it's the last weekend in August!).  I'm heading to our farmer's market shortly - one of my favorite things to do on a summer Saturday morning. 

Since losing 126 pounds on this program, I've become a very picky eater.  I used to eat pretty indiscriminately - with few exceptions, if it was food, I'd eat it.  All that has changed and I'm now incredibly selective about what I eat, and so is my husband (he lost 50 pounds).  I simply won't waste calories on food that isn't wonderful, and I also won't waste calories on food that's devoid of nutrition.  Fresh is definitely my preference and I love to buy locally-grown products because I'm supporting the local economy and also getting food that is fresh from being harvested. 

So I'm off to find the freshest, ripest fruits and veggies available.  Tonight's dinner will be lean protein (not sure if it will be grilled chicken or salmon) and fresh-from-the-market veggies. 

Eating simply, eating healthy, eating fresh - that's my choice today.  What about you?  You have choices to make as well . . . choose wisely :-)

It's Friday!

How did it get to be Friday so fast?  This week has flown by!  When I was working full-time, Fridays were usually busy as I was trying to finish up as much work as possible before the weekend.  The work I needed to get done was often challenged by the reality that, by Friday afternoon, I just wanted to be done and go home and often just didn't feel like staying on task.  I would vacillate between wanting to leave for the weekend with a clean desk and the temptation to cut myself some slack and leave the work for the following Monday morning.

Regardless of what I ended up doing at work on a Friday afternoon, I came home ready to kick back, relax, and reward myself for another work week completed.  Before starting on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, "reward" always, always meant food.  My husband was a retail jewelry store manager and worked Friday nights, and once our children were grown, my Friday night food fest was a personal party for just me.  I'd opt for my favorite foods (all high calorie, high fat of course) and make sure that I had something sweet to end the meal.  I'd often stop at the store after work, tired, hungry, and on the prowl for my food rewards.  Once home, I'd fix my plate and crawl into bed for a night of watching TV and eating, only getting up to get more food.

If this sounds pretty sad to you . . . it was, especially as I look back.  It's hard to believe that what I just described was me just a little over three years ago!  But that WAS how I typically spent my Friday evenings, and by the time my husband got home from work a little before 10 PM, I had often fallen asleep, sometimes with an empty plate by my side.

When I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, Friday nights were a challenge for me because I not only had to change what I had been eating, but change my entire Friday night routine. 

That may be true for some of you, too.  Perhaps your Friday night routine hasn't been an evening eating in bed and watching TV, but it might be going out with friends to kick back and relax.  You do well on program all week, but Friday nights (and the weekends) are really hard because they are about unwinding and rewarding yourself for getting through another work week. 

If this describes you, I would encourage you today to make the choice to change not only what you're eating on weekends, but perhaps what you do, too.  Some people can go out with friends and easily stay on plan, but others find themselves repeatedly swayed by what their friends are eating and drinking, and weekend after weekend finds these individuals going off plan.

The time you've set aside to get to a healthy weight is now, and being on 5&1 isn't forever (although the cycling on and off program can make it FEEL like forever and definitely makes it longer than it could be/should be).  If weekends are when things tend to fall apart for you, I would encourage you to plan a different strategy today - a strategy that will support your journey to a healthy weight.  You owe it to yourself and you'll never regret it!

This is a time of learning new, healthier habits and learning to make new and healthier choices that will not only get you to a healthy weight, but will enable you to stay there.  The choice is yours . . . choose wisely :-)

Self-Sabotage

Yesterday I had conversations with a couple of friends who are struggling to stay on plan.  Both of them talked, with great frustration, about the way they seem to self-sabotage themselves over and over again without really understanding why.

I completely understand where these friends are coming from because that was exactly where I was for a long time with every other program I ever tried.  It's a miserable place to be, that feeling of being driven by triggers and emotions that we don't quite understand and finding ourselves defeated over and over again.

I'm not an expert in human behavior by ANY stretch of the imagination, so all I could do with these friends was share what worked for me when I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast 5&1.  I was motivated to stay on plan because I couldn't justify spending the money on this program unless I was actually doing it, and that motivation prompted me to set myself up for success rather than failure.

One thing I did was to leave all of my money and my debit card (and credit card) at home when I went to work every day.  I had with me the Medifast meals I needed for the day, so when it was time to eat, I didn't have another option besides what I'd brought with me.  That strategy served me well on more than one occasion when I frankly didn't feel like having a Medifast meal.  Had I had money or my debit card with me, it would have been really easy to hop in my car and drive through a fast-food place for something that definitely wouldn't have been on plan.  Not having that option forced me to stick with the plan whether I felt like it or not!  The funny thing was that once I had my Medifast meal, I was glad that I hadn't cheated :-).

I also set up my environment for success and got rid of any and all food temptations.  I cleaned out my desk drawer at the office and cleared out cabinets and my refrigerator at home.  (Because it was just my husband and myself at home and because he was incredibly supportive of me, I was able to purge my house - a real blessing!)

Another thing I did was adopt a Stop-Challenge-Choose approach to temptation.  When I found myself craving something off plan (and yes, I most certainly DID have those cravings from time to time!), I would first look at the time to see if I was craving something because I was truly hungry and it was time to eat.  If that was the case, I had my next Medifast meal ready to go.  If I looked at the clock and realized that I'd eaten just an hour or so before, I understood right away that what I was experiencing wasn't physical hunger. I'd drink a large glass of water (since thirst can often masquerade as hunger) and then ask myself what was going on - why was I suddenly craving something?  By stopping a minute and challenging my feeling, I was usually able to identify was was driving the craving.  Perhaps I was tired or frustrated or perhaps just looking for a way to postpone doing something I didn't feel like doing . . . it usually didn't take much detective work to zero in on what was going on.  Once I understood what was behind the craving, I was back in control and able to choose the response that supported what I REALLY wanted - getting to a healthy weight.  As I've shared in the past, once I identified the real issue, I often shot up a quick "help me, Lord!" prayer, too :-).

We sabotage ourselves for a variety of different reasons, and some individuals need the help of a professional to help work through some of those issues.  My purpose in writing today isn't to figure out WHY someone sabotages, but rather to offer up a couple of strategies to make it more difficult for you to follow through when you're tempted.  My experience was that every time I successfully resisted the temptation to sabotage myself, I felt a huge sense of relief when the temptation was over.  That sense of relief was an indication to me that, on some level or another, I really DID want to be successful in getting to a healthy weight.  That sense of relief also prompted me to begin to probe at the underlying reasons why I seemed at times so bent on sabotage.  In the end, a lot of emotional and spiritual growth happened along the way to losing 126 pounds.

The reality is that we are NOT helpless victims, held captive by our whims and vulnerable to every temptation that comes our way.  Every temptation has a window of time in which we can choose our response.  Stop, challenge, and choose wisely :-)

Freedom

I'm not somebody who is naturally inclined to follow the rules.  I don't know if it's that I'm a bit of a free spirit or if I just have a real rebellious streak (or perhaps a bit of both), but I tend to want to color outside the lines and look for tinges of gray rather than black and white. 

Because of that, I found a recent story rather interesting. This story was part of a devotional that I read, and the author wrote that "Long ago my wife decided that driving within the speed limit gives her a wonderful sense of freedom.  She tells me, 'I don't ever need a radar detector.  And I never have to slow down when I see a state patrol car or worry about paying a fine for speeding.'" 

I tend to drive 5-8 miles over the speed limit and I have often felt a catch in my throat when I see a cruiser on the side of the road.  I take my foot off the gas and nervously glance in the rear view mirror to make sure the patrol car hasn't taken off after me.  (NOTE: I've only had two speeding tickets in my life and it's been close to 20 years since my last ticket.)  I'm not the car speeding down the highway going 20 miles over the speed limit, but I'm also not usually in the right-hand lane with my cruise control set at the speed limit, either.  And that does, on occasion, create moments of tension for me.

Reading the story about the woman who found freedom by following the rules - as written - got me thinking :-).  So often we think the rules are restrictive and limit our freedom when they really have the ability to GIVE us freedom.  Seems ironic, doesn't it?

That is certainly true when it comes to following the rules on Take Shape for Life/Medifast 5&1.  Staying on such a strict regime with no wiggle room can feel restrictive sometimes and there is a tendency for some of us to want to find a gray area.  We may find it frustrating that there IS no gray area with this program - no options for coloring outside the lines.  The truth is that there is great freedom by following the protocols of this program, because they are designed to make it easy.  The 5&1 program couldn't be more simple - no counting calories, carbs, fat grams or points.  All we have to do is stay inside the lines and it works!  There is great freedom in not having to figure things out every day, and that's one of the things that made this program work for me.  I loved not having to think about it! 

Following the program as written also brings freedom because we don't have to feel guilty about what we're eating.  A friend of mine recently told me that she loves not feeling guilty about food any more.  On past weight loss programs, I'd cheat and feel guilty even while I was eating the off-plan food (kind of like speeding and seeing a patrol car!).  There was never much true pleasure in eating the off-plan food because I felt so guilty doing it, and as soon as the food was gone I almost always felt regret, disgust, etc.  That's not freedom!

Lastly, following this program as written brings the long-term freedom of living life at a healthy weight - not only feeling and looking great, but also having the freedom to enjoy food in moderation and in proper portions.

How are you going to define freedom today?  The choice is yours . . . choose wisely :-)

Embracing Seasons

Even though the calendar says it's still summer, there are signs that fall is just around the corner.  In many parts of the country, children are now back in school (Michigan children return to school the day after Labor Day) and families are settling into a routine after a busy summer.  Outside my window, I'm seeing the first signs of leaves changing colors, which gives me really mixed feelings.  On the one hand, I love the beauty of a West Michigan autumn - the colors are spectacular and there are many lovely scenic drives available within just an hour or two of my house.  On the other hand, a beautiful West Michigan autumn sets the stage for the next season, which often stretches into the better part of five (or six) months of cold, snow and mostly gray skies.  Sigh . . .

This time of year, I find myself facing the choice of embracing the season at hand and enjoying the unique beauty it brings, or I can miss the beauty of each day because I'm focused on what's coming next - cold and snow.  I used to miss much of the autumn beauty because I'd be busy settling into my winter funk (might as well get a head start on it, you know!).  My weight would invariably start to climb this time of year, just as my spirits would begin to droop, and I would pretty much eat my way through the fall and winter, only emerging from my food-induced coma sometime in mid to late April.

Not any more!  Part of what I learned on my own weight loss journey was to embrace the season I'm in right now and look for the unique beauty that it brings.   And guess what?  I'm not just taking about the seasons on the calendar - I'm talking about the seasons in my life.

I viewed my almost-year of weight loss as a season in my life that I'd set aside to get to a healthy weight.   I really took the viewpoint that being on 5&1 was NOT the rest of my life, just one short season in what I hoped would be (and still hope will be) the rest of my long and healthy life. 

Like the seasons on a calendar, my weight loss "season" had it's good days and it's not-so-great days.  Some days during this "season" felt like the best of a summer day - airy and bright, while other days felt like the depths of winter - long, cold and grey, but I knew that it was only one short "season" of my life.   I've shared before, but I'll say it again:  I did NOT wake up joyful every day that I got to be on plan that day; I did NOT wake up every single day happy about facing another 5 Medifast meals.  Thankfully, most days I WAS pretty positive about all of the changes I was seeing and it helped that I really liked (and continue to like) almost all of the Medifast meals.  Joyful or not, I did view this as a season in my life and I was determined to make it as short of a season as possible :-).

Since reaching my goal over two years ago, I look back on my "lose weight and get healthy" season as a VERY short season in my life - just under a year.  It is a season that I will never regret, because I learned so much about how to eat, I learned so much about myself and how I related to food, and I grew a lot emotionally and spiritually, even as my body shrank.  The best part is that this season is past and I'm in an entirely new season of life - HEALTHY.  I'm at a healthy weight, in a size I never in a million years thought I'd be in (size 6 slacks and 4 dresses), I have energy to keep up with a very busy schedule (and 4 very busy little grandchildren), and I have an entirely new career helping people achieve the kind of success that I've been blessed with on this program.

I really encourage you today to embrace this "season" in your life.  It really will go fast, and the season that follows may well be the very best season of your life.  I also encourage you to make this "season" as short as possible, and you can do that by choosing to staying on plan, one day at a time.  The choice is yours today . . . choose wisely :-)

Choose Your Response

Happy Monday morning, everyone!  I know Monday isn't everybody's favorite day of the week, but I hope it will be a great one for you! 

I'm helping out with my twin grandchildren (3-1/2) this morning, so I'm going to make this short and to the point and just encourage you to choose to have an on-plan day today.  You're here because you want to reach your goal, so don't let anything get in the way.  Your day may be stressful, it may be busy, you may not feel like staying on plan today, you may encounter unexpected circumstances - there are a hundred and one roadblocks, physical, mental or emotional, that may pop up and threaten to keep you from doing what you really want to do.  My encouragement to you today is to choose to stay on plan, regardless of what comes your way.  Food won't fix it, that much I know for sure, so don't allow yourself to fall into that miserable trap.  Hang in there and just do it, one meal at a time :-)  We may not be able to choose our circumstances today, but we CAN choose our response.  Choose wisely :-)

Burning Ships and Bridges

The ancient Greek warriors were both feared and respected by their enemies. In battle, the Greeks established a well-deserved reputation for their unsurpassed bravery and unshakable commitment to victory. The key to their overwhelming success on the battlefield had far more to do with how the Greek commanders motivated the warriors than it did with issues of tactics or training. The Greeks were master motivators who understood how to use a "dramatic demonstration" to infuse a spirit of commitment into the heart of every warrior. Once the warriors had been offloaded from their boats onto their enemy's shore, the Greek commanders would shout out their first order…"burn the boats!" The sight of burning boats removed any notion of retreat from their hearts and any thoughts of surrender from their heads. Imagine the tremendous psychological impact on the soldiers as they watched their boats being set to the torch. As the boats turned to ash and slipped quietly out of sight into the water, each man understood there was no turning back and the only way home was through victory.

No retreat and no turning back – I like it!  In all of my past attempts at losing weight, I never quite burned the ships.  Whether it was keeping bigger sizes “just in case” or maintaining a mindset that gave me permission to return to my old way of eating, I kept glancing backward even as I tried to move ahead.  I’d see the scale drop a few pounds, but never quite believed it would be permanent, even thought I hoped it would.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but the very fact that I kept looking back factored in to the inevitable failure I experienced.  

When I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast, I finally decided that this was “it” – my last diet forever.  To that end, I got rid of my other diet books.  I also got rid of my clothes as I shrank out of them – there was no saving of any bigger sizes “just in case.”  I burned my bridges and I burned my ships, because neither the bridges or the ships would bring me to a place I wanted to be.

Because I kept burning the ships and the bridges as I continued on my journey, I had no choice but to keep moving forward – retreating was not an option.  It was scary.  Make that: it was very scary!  I had never been successful in losing any significant amount of weight, and I certainly hadn’t been successful at keeping it off, so burning bridges and ships felt reckless.  As it turned out, it was a real step of faith.  However, taking a step of faith – one step at a time – makes all the difference!  Once you know there is no turning back, it’s amazing what that does to your attitude and your motivation :-).

So who’s committed to an on-plan, ship-burning day today?  The choice is yours . . . choose wisely :-)

Remembering . . . and Believing Who We Are

One of the perks of being a grandparent is being able to watch some of the Disney movies again.  One of my favorite Disney movies is "The Lion King" (my two oldest granddaughters love this one, too).  There is a scene that's particularly poignant, when Simba (main character) was challenged to be the king he was born to be.  His departed father told him, "Simba, you forgot who you were."  That scene makes me wonder about how often we've forgotten who we were, or perhaps we've stopped believing we could ever be any different than the way we are right now. 

As strange as it sounds, the story of Simba reminded me of another story, only this one is found in the Old Testament and is about a man named Gideon.  Gideon thought of himself as the weakest person in his family, which was the weakest family in his clan - he was the self-proclaimed weakest of the weak.  His city was surrounded by a feared enemy and he ended up hiding in a winepress, where he was threshing wheat for his family.  He was a weak man in hiding, and he couldn't see himself any other way.  What is amazing to me is that when the Lord approached this weak man who was hiding in a winepress, God referred to him as a mighty warrior.  God asked Gideon to lead a group that would end up freeing his city from the enemy, but God didn't wait until after the city was liberated to refer to Gideon as a mighty warrior - He called him that before Gideon had done a thing.

There is so much potential in each one of us, potential we often don't realize.  God created each one of us with the potential to do great things, but sometimes we get so bogged down with our "stuff" that we stop believing that things can ever be different than they are right now.  We may feel a lot like Gideon, just trying to survive, so if someone referred to us as a "mighty warrior," we'd be looking around to see who else was there.  But God sees beyond where we are - He sees what we can be.

The question for us is, do we believe it?  Right now, most of you are on a journey that you hope will end with you at a healthy weight.  Do you believe you'll get there?  Do you believe that your life will change in all kinds of wonderful ways?  I'm not saying that all of your problems will be over when you reach your goal, because they won't.  What I am saying, however, is that the journey to get to your goal will change YOU in a lot of wonderful ways.  Learning to change old habits and to relate to food in a new, healthy way will change you.  Learning how to deal with stress and the stuff of life in healthier ways (instead of reaching for food) will cause you to stretch and grow in ways you can't imagine.  You just might find out that you really ARE a mighty warrior :-).

So be encouraged!  So many wonderful changes are just ahead, and you'll get there one meal, one choice and one on-plan day at a time.  Believe it!  Then choose wisely :-)

Comparison = Danger & Discouragement

It's easy for us to compare stories and get discouraged if someone else's story is more exciting than our own.  We hear about someone who dropped 50 pounds in three months and we can become discouraged if we've taken five months to lose the same amount of weight.  Or we're happy with our two pound weight loss this week until we hear about someone else who lost four pounds, making our two pounds seem insignificant.

One of the things I learned on my own journey was that I couldn't compare my own progress and my own journey to anyone else's.  I could always find someone who was losing faster than I was, and that's who I would have compared myself to (I never compared myself to anyone who was losing more slowly than I - funny how that works!).  When I would compare myself to someone else and inevitably come up short, it created frustration and dissatisfaction - definitely NOT a good thing!  I had to come to terms with the fact that this was MY journey, and ultimately it didn't matter how long it would take me to reach my goal, the important thing was that I got there.

I heard someone remark recently that it doesn't matter how long it takes to get to the top, because the view is the same once you're there, regardless of how long it takes you to get there.  I think that is a great statement and provides a wonderful perspective for us to embrace. 

We are on a journey towards improving our health and permanently changing our lifestyle so that we stay at a healthy weight for the rest of our lives.  We can't control how fast our bodies choose to release the weight, but we can choose whether or not we're going to stay on plan.  As long as we're doing what we know we need to do, we are going to reach our goal.  Ultimately, that's what really matters.  Don't allow yourself to get discouraged by comparing your progress to someone else's.  This is your journey, and when you reach the top, the view is magnificent!  And you WILL get there, one day and one choice at a time.  Choose wisely :-)

Joy in the Journey . . . Sometimes . . .

Hate the process but love the result . . . I'm definitely singing that song today as I enjoy the final results from several days' work sorting through, reorganizing and cleaning out closets, cabinets and drawers.  As I shared a couple of days ago, I do NOT enjoy the process at all, unlike my husband, who practically rubs his hands together in glee as he anticipates an organizing project (he watches programs like "Hoarders" and thinks about how much fun he'd have getting in the middle of the chaos and slowly but surely bring order to the mess - yikes!!!).  The entire time I spent going through things (and tossing out), I wasn't particularly enjoying myself OR the process.  My focus was on staying with it so I could be DONE, plus I envisioned how great it would be to be able to open any drawer or closet in my house and find order (and it's quite nice!).

Sometimes there is joy in the journey and sometimes there's not.  Thankfully, most of my weight loss journey was pretty joyful because it was exciting to watch my body shrink and transform.  I felt great, wasn't hungry, and I loved watching the scale and my clothing size go down.  However, there were times when I felt a lot like I've felt the past few days as I've reorganized my stuff - definitely NOT having fun and despising the process. 

What kept me going on those days was wanting to be done with the weight loss portion of the program so that I could get on with the rest of my life.  On more than one occasion while I was on 5&1, my husband heard me muttering to myself (or saying it out loud), "This is NOT the rest of my life . . . "  I reminded myself of that periodically because while the almost-year went fast, there were some really LONG days.  On those long days, getting from one Medifast meal to another was hard, and on those days I wasn't particularly excited that the next meal I would have would be yet another Medifast meal.  Resolute would pretty much describe my mindset on those days, just as resolute best describes my mindset over these past few days as I've cleaned out and organized the stuff.  Then and now, it was a matter of just putting one foot in front of the other and continuing to move forward, whether I felt like it or not.

On those days, it really helps to have a clear vision of where you want to end up.  Moving away from the problem only works up to a point, because once the situation begins to improve, the pressure is off and it's hard to maintain momentum.  Momentum is better sustained when you've moving forward towards something you want.

I know I write about this a lot, but that's because I think it makes all the difference between whether you view this program as another diet or whether you view this as a new, healthy lifestyle.  Diets don't work - 85% of people who go on diets regain their weight, plus more, within two years.  Diets are designed to fix a problem, not create health.  By embracing the healthy habits you're learning now (eating six small meals a day, drinking lots of water, getting regular exercise, watching portion sizes, etc.), you will establish a healthy lifestyle that will keep you moving in the direction of optimal health - well beyond just reaching your weight loss goal.

I hope you're having a great, joy-filled and on-plan day, but even if your day is less than joyful, I hope it's still an on-plan day.  You may not be enjoying the process today, but I can promise you that you're gonna love the results!  Regardless of how you feel today, there are still choices to be made . . . choose wisely :-)

Making Positive Choices

One of things I really, REALLY hate is feeling deprived.  I enjoy life and want to savor things, and feeling deprived just doesn't fit in with my joie de vivre :-).  That could have easily been a problem for me on Take Shape for Life/Medifast 5/1 if I had chosen to dwell on all of the things that I couldn't eat, so I adopted a different mindset. 

I told myself repeatedly that I could have WHATEVER I wanted, but I was CHOOSING to eat a Medifast meal or a lean & green.  While I was on 5/1, people would say things like, "Oh, you probably can't eat this or that" and I would always respond, "I can eat anything I want, but I'm choosing to eat something healthy instead."

That might sound like a silly thing, but it made a huge difference for me in how I viewed the time I spent losing weight.  Instead of feeling deprived and sorry for myself, and instead of having a "poor me, diet victim" mindset, I found it very empowering to view this as a positive choice I was making.  I didn't allow myself to think in terms of "I can't have this or that," because human nature ALWAYS wants what it can't have.  There is something rebellious in this human nature of ours that rears it's ugly head the moment someone says we can't have something.  So I told myself all the time that I could have anything I wanted, and that it was my choice to eat the things I did.  Saying that not only felt very positive and empowering for me, but it kept me from having people feel sorry for me, which I did NOT want.  It left me feeling in charge of the choices I was making, and it was a reminder to me that it really WAS my choice.

It was my choice to go on this plan.  Nobody made me do it.  I didn't HAVE to go on - I could have chosen to remain 260 pounds (or more) and diabetic.  It was my choice to STAY on plan - nobody made me do that, either.  Every day, every meal, it was my choice to do it or not.

For me, I knew it would be deadly to continually focus on what I couldn't have; I did NOT want to spend the better part of a year looking longingly at plate after plate of "forbidden" food.  Instead I focused on what I was gaining and celebrated each and every good choice that I made.  Sometimes it was a real struggle, I promise you, and sometimes I came perilously close to caving in - but I didn't.  Once each decision was made to stay on plan, I knew it was because I chose to do the right thing and it felt SO good to know I'd walked away from a potential slip.

Today I want to encourage you to focus on staying positive, even in the way you think about off-plan food.  You already know that that food really isn't your friend (it probably helped you get where you are, and no real friend would do that!), so I'm encouraging you to think positively today.  Embrace the choice that you've made to get healthy, because it really is, and always will be, your choice.  Choose wisely :-)

The Key to Decluttering

I just started reading Peter Walsh's book, "Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Big?"  I'd read an excerpt at the time the book was published, but decided over this past weekend to read the book itself.  The decision to do so was probably triggered by an organizing/cleaning frenzy that my husband and I embarked on at the end of last week.  We came home early from our week at the cottage due to issues with the septic system (I'll spare you the details . . . ).  With a couple of unexpected days at home and our calendars cleared for vacation, my husband decided this was the perfect time to clean out and organize the two storage rooms on our lower level (one room is for short-term storage and other room is for long-term and seasonal storage).  Once both rooms were brought under submission, he turned his attention to the walk-in closet in our bedroom - which prompted me to get involved.  I hate sorting through things, but once I got started, it felt good to clean out and declutter.  From there I moved to my dresser drawers, then the linen closet . . . my new motto is "I'm going to get organized if it kills me!"

It's hard to get rid of stuff, even stuff I'm not emotionally attached to (which applies to probably 90% of my stuff).  But there is something wonderful and freeing about finally doing do - opening a closet door or a dresser drawer and finding order is a wonderful feeling.  It makes me feel lighter, no longer weighed down by stuff I really don't need.

It was that "lighter feeling" that prompted me to pick up the book.  When Peter Walsh begins working with a client to help them declutter their home, he always asks them, "Is this the life you want?  What is the vision you have of the life you want to live?  Are you living the life you want?"  He goes on to say that many of his clients have list sight of what it is that they from the life they have.  He contends that creating a vision for the life you want to live forces you to make decisions based on the real priorities that should drive your life.

These are good questions for us to ask, not only as we perhaps tackle cleaning out a garage or basement, but also as we strive to declutter our lives from years of unhealthy eating habits.  Cleaning out old habits that are no longer serving our best interests (and perhaps never did!) isn't fun - it's hard, sometimes tedious work.   For me, the journey began when I looked at where I was and asked myself  "is this the life I want?"  The answer was a resounding "NO!"  I hated being morbidly obese, hated the size and style of clothing I wore, hated being tired and out of breath, hated being diabetic and on medication, and I hated feeling self-conscious about my weight all the time.  I was (and am!) happily married with three wonderful grown children, four grandchildren I adored, a great group of friends . . . but my ability to fully enjoy these blessings was muted by how miserable I was. 

If all we do is ask ourselves, "is this the life we want?", we may be pretty discouraged or even depressed.  More than that, if all we do is attempt to move away from what we don't want, we're just trying to solve a problem - and that's exactly what diets are designed to do.  We have to move beyond trying to distance ourselves from what we don't want.

Peter's second question is the key to decluttering our lives, including our unhealthy eating habits:  "What is the vision you have for the life you want to live?"  Once you have a vision for what you want, then you make decisions to support your vision.  In his book, "Dr. A's Habits of Health," Take Shape for Life/Medifast's Medical Director and TSFL Co-Founder, Dr. Wayne Scott Andersen, describes this process as making a fundamental choice which is then supported by our secondary choices. 

Are you ready to do some decluttering today?  Ask yourself those two important questions, and make sure you spend some time envisioning what you want to create in your life.  That vision will keep you moving forward, even when the decluttering process isn't much fun.  That process happens one choice at a time . . . choose wisely :-)

Brain Surgery

I am home and settling back into my normal routine after being on vacation last week.  Our vacation had some unexpected turns, but we adjusted as needed and had a good week.  One of the things I enjoy about being away is that we are forced to unplug - at least temporarily.  Without a steady stream of information from the internet, it's amazing how peaceful things are ;-).  Coming home and getting caught up on the news is always a bit of a mixed bag - and there is a lot of health-related news that is quite unsettling.

An article posted yesterday made me catch my breath, then shake my head and just vent for a few minutes. 

Doctors at a hospital in Pennsylvania conducted a small study of 10 patients with progressive type 2 diabetes and compression of the medulla oblongata, a portion of the brain located on the lower half of the brainstem that controls pancreatic function.  The surgeon who helped to develop the surgery reasoned that decompressing the nerve in the medulla oblongata, which controls the function of the pancreas, could ease the effects of type 2 diabetes.

Researchers followed the patients — who were not allowed to make any changes to their diet, weight or level of activity — for one year after undergoing microvascular decompression procedures. Seven of the ten patients had better glucose control as a result of the surgery. Those patients were able to decrease their medication dosage, and one was able to cease taking medication altogether.

Unbelievable . . . risky BRAIN SURGERY in an effort to help control diabetes . . . Does anybody else find this frightening?  Take Shape for Life/Medifast has been proven to help diabetics often reduce or eliminate their diabetic medication, and this reduction often begins very quickly.  I know that my own blood sugar levels returned to normal within a couple of weeks after starting on the program and I've worked with a number of diabetics who have had similar results (including my mom who, at 81, manages her diabetes very well and seldom needs any insulin because she lost 40 pounds on this program and eat six small meals a day).

Americans are looking for solutions that don't require changing their habits.  If a surgery or a pill or some procedure can possibly do it for us, we'll line up and literally risk our lives.  I just read about a woman who had a new kind of bariatric surgery where the surgeon removed most of her stomach by going through her mouth.  The article said that the woman was 5'4" and weighed almost 200 pounds.  To my best estimation, she needed to lose about 60 pounds to reach a healthy weight, but opted to have 80% of her stomach removed as her way of losing the weight.

I'm not criticizing her, or anyone else, who's opted for weight loss surgery because I was considering it myself and would have most likely pursued it a little over three years ago if my insurance covered it.  Because I would have incurred the entire cost myself, I decided to try Take Shape for Life/Medifast for four weeks before risking our financial future.  Obviously I'm thankful that I did, and I'm thankful that my insurance didn't pay for surgery.  I am just concerned that so many people are desperate enough to risk surgery to help them lose weight or manage their diabetes, but they aren't desperate enough to be willing to change their daily habits. 

I've said repeatedly that the food part of this program is the easy part - it's the head and heart part that are difficult.  We definitely need to fix our brains when it comes to how we related to food, but the fixing our brains need will never be accomplished by a surgeon's knife.   As we make the choices we need to make, we will not only improve our health (including diabetes!), we will also be rewiring our brains.  That's how lasting change happens - one choice at a time.  Choose wisely :-)

Being the Exception to the Rule

It's hard for a day to go by in the news without another story related to the rapidly-expanding (pun intended) obesity epidemic.  Whether it's on the internet, a story in the newspaper or one of the segments on the evening news, obesity and its ramifications provides newsworthy fodder day after day. 

A couple of days ago, a story caught my eye that spoke volumes to how wide-spread this epidemic really is.  The New York City Center is ripping out all its seats and replacing them with wider ones.  Upon completion, the new seats will range from 19 to 22 inches in width - an increase from 17 to 20 inches.  One study by the Theater Projects Consultants, a theater-development firm, found that the average standard width of seats in performing-arts theaters has expanded from 21 to 22 inches over the last 2 decades, "primarily due" to the concurrent rise in obesity.  Before losing 126 pounds, I remember attending a couple of old, classic movies in a theater that was built nearly one hundred years earlier.  I was wedged into the seats and was fairly uncomfortable.  I remember grumbling to myself about the small seats and wondering why any theater would make such narrow seats, then remembering that the seats probably easily accommodated the patrons of the era when the theater was built.  It was a sobering realization for me.

While the size of theater seats is expanding across the country, it's also interesting to note that twenty years ago, a movie theater popcorn was five cups for under 300 calories. Now, a large tub is 16 to 20 cups, ranging from 1,000 to 1,200 calories.  What's happened with movie theater popcorn has happened in nearly every restaurant across the country - portion sizes have increased dramatically, and people have gotten increasingly obese.  Factor in that many individuals are burning less calories than ever before thanks to sit-down jobs in front of computers, labor-saving devices (we don't even crank our car windows anymore - just push a button!), and the ability to scroll through a couple hundred cable TV options with a remote from the comfort of a recliner.

You may be wondering, so what does all of this have to do with the choice to stay on plan?  Simply this:  the environment all around us, from the chairs we sit in to the food we purchase in a restaurant to the fact that we can run our lives without ever breaking a sweat means that it's easy to stay overweight.  Our country is changing, and not in a good way, to accommodate our expanding girth.  Being overweight used to be the exception and now it's the rule (2/3 of Americans are now classified as overweight or obese).  This means that choosing to get healthy, choosing to temporarily turn down certain foods and choosing to get and stay active are very counter-cultural.

So why go to all the effort to get to a healthy weight when our culture is becoming more and more accommodating to our obesity?  This is why:  regardless of how accommodating our culture may be, our health remains at risk when we're carrying around extra weight.  While our culture scrambles to accommodate our extra girth, the diabetes rates are skyrocketing right along with the obesity rates.  People are not only getting fatter, they are getting sicker.  Theater seats may be ripped out and replaced to make people more comfortable, but there is no drug in the pipleline that will enable our bodies to peacefully co-exist with our obesity.  It is killing us and it's severely compromising the quality of our lives.

So it's hard to make the choices we need to make today.  Choosing to deny ourselves, to reject immediate gratification for something far better down the road - a longer, healthier life - is going against society's flow.  The only way we can successfully do this day after day, Medifast meal after Medifast meal, is if we've made the fundamental choice to get healthy.  It's up to you - go with the flow or be counter-cultural.  Choose wisely :-)

*****
We are leaving this morning for a week at our lake cottage rental.  This is one of those rustic spots on the lake where we can sometimes get a weak phone signal if we're standing at the end of the dock and the wind is blowing in the right direction :-).  No cell phone and no internet access for the next week, so I won't be able to post a blog until we get home.  Have a great, on-plan week, and continue to choose wisely :-)

I Can't

I kind of like acronyms because they can help me to remember things - at least if I can remember what each letter stands for!  I just came across a new acronym yesterday.  To be honest, it made me wince, but the more I thought about it, the more I kind of liked it:  I CAN'T

I
Certainly
Am
Not
Trying

As I said, my first reaction was frankly pretty negative.  I think this probably stemmed from the fact that I have said, "I can't" on numerous occasions - and thought it even more often.  So many times when I've faced a challenge, my knee-jerk reaction is to think (or say), "I can't."  Of course, the minute I decide I can't, I can't - and I don't.  Why bother trying if you already know that you can't do it, that you can't succeed?  Why should I set myself up for failure when I've already decided that it can't be done?

I've known several people who desperately need to lose weight but who refuse to try this program for even a month because they are so sure that they can't lose weight, or they believe that they can't keep it off.  Rather than risk failure, they decide to not even try.  Their "I can't" may be the result of multiple failed attempts at losing weight, causing them to believe that any effort, no matter how valiant, will only end in failure and disappointment.

Most of the time when we say or think "I can't", the truth is "I don't want to."  People may say "I can't stay on plan on the weekends because we eat out", but what they mean is "I don't want to stay on plan on the weekends" or, perhaps most accurately, "I choose to not stay on plan on weekends."  Other "I can'ts" may include things like "I can't stay on plan because I cook for a family" or "I can't stay on plan because I travel, or I'm going on vacation." 

The reality is that we all have a long lists of "I can'ts" that run around inside our heads, and the "I can'ts" go far beyond staying on plan.  Saying "I can't" keeps us thinking we are helpless victims of circumstances beyond our control.  Believing we can't keeps us stuck where we we are.

It's amazing what we CAN do when we decide that's what we WANT to do!  It's amazing what we CAN do when we try, even when we're sure we can't.  It really comes down to what we choose to do.  Choose wisely :-)

No Shortcuts

We all want change in our lives, to some degree or another.  Everyone on this program wants to change their weight and many want to improve their health - I know I wanted both. 

I've often wished that I had either a magic wand or a fairy godmother so that any and all changes could happen in an instant - one wave of the wand and poof!  it's done.  I'd have the result I wanted without going through the process I needed to get there.  Honestly, sometimes that sounds SO good to me!

I watched a program on TV several months ago about a man who was obsessed with plastic surgery.  He went so far as to get implants that gave the look of bulging arm muscles, because he said he wanted the look but didn't have the time or desire to work out at the gym.   So he got the look alright, but didn't have the true muscle mass he needed and he also didn't have the satisfaction that would have come had he built up real muscles over time.

I often hate the process.  I'm not a particularly patient person by nature (God is continuing to grow me in this area), so when results are almost immediately forthcoming, it's tempting for me to grow weary of the process.  That was certainly the case with every other weight loss program I ever went on.  They were a lot of work and the progress was agonizingly slow and I lost interest before I ever got very far.

Even on 5&1, though there isn't a safer way to lose weight quickly, it's still a process that happens over time.  For me, it was almost 11 months of eating 5 Medifast meals every day and one lean & green, and those 11 months sometimes seemed eternal.  Honestly, some DAYS on 5&1 felt like an eternity :-). 

What I didn't fully understand at the time, but I see more clearly now, is that those 11 months were a time of sowing seeds of new actions and responses.  I was seeing results right along, which kept me motivated, but the process of learning to eat a different way planted seeds that are now bearing fruit.  Those seeds planted while I was on 5&1 are now becoming a crop of lifestyle changes and healthy habits that have enabled me to stay in my goal range for almost 18 months.  Had I had the magic wand and reached my goal in an instant, I would not have done the work I needed to do to maintain my weight loss and ensure a healthy lifestyle for the rest of my life.

Planting seeds of new, healthy habits happens one day and one choice at a time, so choose wisely :-)

Fear or Trust?

Yesterday I took my car to the body shop to get an estimate on what it will cost to repair the damages from the accident we had in Canada on Sunday.  I gulped when I opened my e-mail with the estimate attached - over $5,000.  Ugh!  We have a $1,000 deductible, so thankfully the insurance company will cover the rest, or at least I assume they will once their adjuster makes his own assessment of the damages.  Obviously, the deductible is $1,000 out of pocket that we weren't planning on.  Coupled with a couple thousand dollars in medical bills from my recent broken bone (bills that exceed what our medical insurance will cover), it would be very easy to get discouraged right now as we face these unexpected expenses at a time when we're feeling stretched anyway.

When we are in a crisis, the crisis reveals what we fear and what we trust.  Not only does a crisis reveal our fear and our trust level, but how we come out of that crisis may very well depend on whether we choose fear or trust.

Many of us were prompted to start on Take Shape for Life/Medifast because of a crisis on our lives.  Some of us received a stern warning from our physician (God bless those physicians who are willing to look their patients in the eyes and talk frankly about the health risks they’re facing because of their obesity); some of us received lab work that revealed a disease we were unaware of (a routine blood draw uncovered my own diabetes).  For others of us, our health is fine at the moment, but we reached an emotional crisis – an “I can’t live as an overweight person any more” moment.  Very few people start this program if their health is great and they’re happy being overweight – a crisis of one kind or another is usually the catalyst.

When that moment came for us regarding our weight, we made the decision to go on this program.  The crisis led to action, but both fear and trust are still very much in play.

There is a fear of staying overweight, which is why we started on the program, but we may also continue to deal with other fear – fear of failing, fear of what would change in our lives if we really did get to goal.  That fear can paralyze us and keep us in an oscillating gain-lose-gain cycle.  The fear of ultimately failing on this plan can keep us from just going for it and can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.  The fear of what life might look like if we were at goal can keep us from getting there.  I’ve seen people self-sabotage because it’s more comfortable staying where they are, even if where they are is at an unhealthy weight, than risk seeing their lives change by getting to goal.  

Trust, on the other hand, can allow us to move forward into unknown territory, and it makes all the difference!  First of all, we can trust this program.  It is a proven program with over 30 years of research and history behind it.  I didn’t know much about Take Shape for Life/Medifast when I started, but I knew that Johns Hopkins used this for their own weight loss program, and that’s all I needed to know in order to trust that this was safe and effective.  This program has been been recommended by over 20,000 physicians, and knowing that also gave me a lot of reassurance.

Because of my own personal faith and relationship with Jesus Christ, I also chose to trust God on my journey, looking to Him for the strength I needed for each day.  I have a dear friend who has been my prayer partner for over 15 years and she said something to me that made a difference in my life – “fear and faith can’t stand in the same spot, so you have to choose what you’re going to stand on.”  

Fear keeps us at status quo – if we choose fear, we don’t move forward.  Faith and trust, however small it may be, allows us to take the first step, and then the one after that.  Will you choose fear today, or will you choose trust?  Choose wisely :-)

It's All About the Choices

Our return home from Niagara Falls was delayed by a day due to an accident we had in Ontario, so we didn't get home until yesterday afternoon. Thankfully no one was hurt and we were able to drive our car home (today's schedule includes getting body shop estimates).  Other than the accident, we had a great time there, enjoyed the Falls and took a lot of pictures.  We also walked - a lot!

After driving to Niagara Falls on Saturday (with stops, it took almost 8 hours to get there), we still walked about five miles once we were there.  It was amazing to not only be able to easily walk that far, but also realize that I wasn't dying of exhaustion in the process.  I actually felt great and could have continued to walk - there was no feeling of needing to sit down or worse, collapse.  My husband and I ate Medifast meals and drank a lot of water throughout the day, then had a healthy (not lean and green) dinner at the Rainforest Cafe (a treat for our granddaughters and the two teens with us). 

Surprisingly, we did a lot better than one of the teens who traveled with us.  She choose to drink soda pop and picked up typical junk food snacks when we stopped (we traveled with my daughter and her family and both vehicles were stocked with healthy snack options and lots of water, which this teen opted to not have).  Her dinner choice was a high-fat menu option.  This teen is quite overweight and also very sedentary.  She not only had problems with all of the walking we did, but after finishing her dinner, also complained of not feeling well due to stomach issues. 

The contrast between living a healthy lifestyle and making different choices was striking:  two grandparents, 58 and 59, had a lot more energy and were able to have a lot more fun than a 16 year old.  It really saddened me to see how much she struggled and how tired she was, especially since we felt great and energized.  I think she saw the difference, too.  She is staying with my daughter and her husband this summer and they are working with her to develop healthier habits which she will hopefully take home with her and incorporate into her life.

Living optimally healthy isn't about being a certain age, it's about making certain, deliberate choices.  I know that if I hadn't made the choice to get healthy - and the choice to stay on plan - I would not have been able to walk those five miles on Saturday, let alone walk another three miles the next day.  I would have been exhausted, miserable, looking for places to stop and rest as my legs, feet and knees were not designed to support the extra 126 pounds I carried. 

When I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast a little more than three years ago, I just knew I needed to get healthy.  I made the choice to stay on plan and took it one meal and one day at a time.  It certainly wasn't always easy, but drawing on the Lord's strength every day, I did it.  Any sacrifice I made during those 11 months, any food that I didn't eat was more than worth it to get my life and my health back.  Being able to easily walk and enjoy beautiful Niagara Falls was yet another blessing that resulted from those choices.  No off-plan food would have been worth not getting to my goal and missing out on the joy of this past weekend.

We usually don't experience immediate consequences for the choices we make, so it can be easy to think that the choices we make today don't really matter.  But they do - and they will matter even more one, two, and three years from now, and beyond.  Today I would encourage you to think about what you want your life to look like a year from now, then choose wisely :-)